Musical instrument



May 25, 1943.

J. THOMPSON MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed June 19, 1941 i 3 Sheets-Sheet l mm mm MM m HEFMM May 25, 1943. J. THOMPSON MUSICAL INSTRUMENIIT Filed June 19, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 mm mm .IWMIl/hflllllll lllll/lllll J I h 0 /NVENTOR.' JOSEPHUS 7F1'OMP8ON BY ATTORNEY y 1943- J. THOMPSON 2,320,202

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I Q Filed Jun 19, 1941 2 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I /N vsw TOR: dosEPm/s 7;1'OMPSON Patented May 25, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application June 19, 1941, Serial No. 398,775

7 Claims.

This invention relates to musical instruments and more particularly to wind instruments of the type played and used much like a conventional' trumpet or cornet.

As conducive to a clearer understanding of this invention, it may be well to point out that this instrument is designed for construction out of a plastic material such as Bakelite, pyroxyline, vulcanite, or other resinous or similar substances of which there are many kinds now commercially available. In the past, trumpets, cornets, bugles and like instruments were made out of tubular metal, Because of the number of involved and complicated channels and valves in such instruments, many separate and intricate operations were needed to construct them with the result that the final cost was relatively high. Mass production methods could not, therefore, be suitably adapted to the manufacture of metal musical instruments because of the large number of parts and complicated assembly.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide an instrument which may be quickly moulded out of thermoplastic material easily and economically.

Another object is to provide an instrument of the type mentioned which has an accurate primary air passage, compensator ducts, and bypasses all lying in substantially one plane thereby enabling the instrument to be constructed out of two main sections of material, which sections are fastened together and made integral along one central plane.

A further object is to provide such a wind instrument with smooth working and highly efiiinvention will become apparent from a study of the following description and claims together with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference characters and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top view of the instrument constituting this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof; Figure 3 is a bottom view of the same instru- ,rnent:

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view thereof taken along the line 4-4 of the Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged or full size view of a portion of the instrument with parts broken away to show the various air channels and valves, the view taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 5-5 of the Figure 6;

Figured is a vertical sectional View of the instrument taken along the line and in, the direction of the arrows 6G. of the Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a bottom view of a portion of the instrument taken along the line 1-1 of the Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a similar view of the instrument taken along the line 8,8 of the Figure 5;

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view of a valve section of the instrument taken along the line 9-.9 of the Figure 6;

Figure 10 is a top view of one of the valve members;

Figure 11 is a side view thereof; and

Figure '12 is a front view of the same.

The instant invention consists of a moulded body member 20 in which a circuitous air passage 31) extends. One end 2,! of the circuitous air passage 30 is provided with a removable mouthpiece 22 and the other end or opening 23 is flared or belied like the open end of a conventional horn. The mouthpiece 22 and the bell 23 .are in alignment, that is, the horn body is so constructed that the air appears to iiow in a straight line directly from the mouthpiece to the bell. The circuitous air passage 30 is generally round in cross-section and extends in a general longitudinal manner through the body of the instrument and lies in substantially three folds. A portion 31 of the air passage 30, a portion about five inches long in the bottom fold, is made to have a rectangular cross-section, or at least so that its inner top and side walls are flat. This portion 3| is referred to herein as the by-pass portion and is, composed of, for the purpose of this description, three separate but aligned interconnected by-passes which aredesignated by the reference characters 3m, 3117, and 3lc. The small portion of the round air passage 30, where it connects with the by-pass 3| is'indicated by the reference character 36 and the part connecting up with tht by-pass tie is indicated by the character 31.

Each by-pass has one of a series of compensator ducts entering therein. The shortest duct 21 is shaped like an inverted U and has an inlet 32 and an outlet 33- opening into the middle bypass 31b. The longesteompensatorduct 29 has a somewhat circuitous air passage and lies between the folds of the main air passage 30 and just forward of the short duct 21. Its inlet and outlet openings 32 and 33 respectively similarly connect with the forward by-pass 3|c. The intermediate compensator duct 28 also lies between the folds of the main air passage 30, but connects with the rear by-pass 3|a. Each of the three compensator ducts are rounded in crosssection excepting those portions which are adjacent to their respective openings 32 and 33, and at these points they are made rectangular in cross-section so that the portion may be made more compact and the valve stems brought closer together. 7

The lower and forward part of the horn body 29 has a small opening and valve attachment 24 for quickly draining any moisture that might accumulate therein. The body portion also is provided with two rather large lateral openings 25 and 25a which receive the fingers therein and thereby form finger grips or holding means for the player.

The mouthpiece 22 is of a conventional design and may be made of either metal or plastic material as desired. It should be made removable, however, so that it can be separated from the instrument and cleaned if desired.

The manually operated pneumatic valves for the instrument are simply closure members which fit snugly against the top surface of the by-pass portions 3|, each of which is large enough to cover and seal simultaneously the inlet and outlet openings 32 and 33 of each of the three compensator ducts. The closure members move freely inside the by-pass portion 3| and each consists of a horizontal portion or plate 49 which covers the adjacent openings 32 and 33 and a vertical portion or fin 4| which is centrally located thereon and attached thereto. Each of the fins 4|, slide up and down as directed and vertical slots 35 form in the body member it] between the two ends of each compensator duct. The corners'42 or junctions where the horizontal plate 411 and the vertical fins 4| meet are rounded slightly so as to provide for a smooth fiow of air into and out of respective compensator ducts when the valve is opened or depressed. Attached to this vertical fin 4| is a valve stem or rod 44 which extends upwardly and is slidably mounted in the top and bottom bearing portions 46" and 41 respectively which are moulded integrally with the right half or side of the horn member 20.

Th top bearing portion 46 is provided with a small coiled expansion spring 48, and the valve stem 44 has threadedly mounted thereon, a finger button 45 which. engages the top end of the coil spring 48 inside the bearing portion 46 in'a manner which tends to raise the finger button 45, the stem 44, the horizontal and vertical plates and 4| attached thereto.

When one of the finger buttons is depressed, the valve being thereby lowered, blocks the respective by-pass at that point and causes the air in the circuitous passage to go upward and through the adjacent duct and then into the next contiguous by-pass or passage on the far side of the vertical fin 4|. The valves 40/ 4|, the stems 44, the springs 48 and buttons are made to fit rather snugly but not too tightly. They should be substantially air tight and should move easily without too much friction and in a manner permitting them to operate rapidly during'play. .When the valve nearestito the mouthpiece is depressed in the by-pass 3|, air in the circuitous passage is caused to flow through the middle sized duct 28. When the valve nearest to the bell is depressed in the by-pass 3|c, the air is similarly caused to pass through the compensator duct 29; and, likewise, when the middle valve is depressed in the by-pass 3H7, then the shortest duct 2'! is engaged. Any number of the valves may be employed at one time as they each work independently of the other. The various notes of the scale are formed by the different combinations of valve operations available.

The bottom part of the horn body, the portion just below the valves has three aligned openings 38 therein. Each opening is provided with an easily removable threaded plug or cap 39 which has a diameter just a little larger than the size of the valve plate 40 above it. When a cap 39 is removed from the horn body 25 and its corresponding finger button 45 is separated or unscrewed from the top of the valve stem 44, the entire valve may be easily dropped out of the instrument andv the spring 48 in the top bearing 46 completely removed. The manufacture and assembly of this instrument is, therefore, obviously easy and simple.

One of the many other advantages that this instrument has over similar devices is that it is much lighter in weight than metal instruments and produces a softer, a mellower and a less metallic tone.

Having thus shown and described the invention in its preferred form, it is nevertheless to be understood that the embodiment of the invention as set forth is merely illustrative and is not to be construed in a limiting sense, as various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.-

I claim:

l. A musical wind instrument composed of an integral one piece body havin-gan upper portion, a lower portion, and front and rear end members connecting the upper and lower portions, the upper portion being formed with a main air passage which at one end extends through the rear end of the upper portion to receive a mouthpiece, thence across the rear end member of the body, along the lower portion of the body, thence across the front end member of the body then rearwardly of the body to a point adjacent to and spaced from the rear end of the upper portion of the body, and then along the upper portion of the body and through the. front end of the upper portion of the body to terminate in a bell, said body further having, interconnected compensator passages which communicate with the part of the main passage that extends along the lower portion of.the body, and manually controlled valves for the ,compensator passages. 2 A, musical wind instrument in accordance with claim 1, wherein the body has a substantially central portion which extends substantially transversely of the top 'and'bottom portions and which is connected to said portions and spacedfrom the endmembers to provide finger-receiving openings. i 3. A musical wind instrumentcoinposed of an integral one piece body having an upper portion, a lower portion and front and rearend members connecting the upper and lower portions, the upper portion being formed with a main air passage which at -oneendbtrt'ends' through the rear end of the upper portion to receive a mouthpiece, thence across the rearend member of the body, along the lower portion of the body, thence across the front end member of the body then rearwardly of the body to a point adjacent to the rear end of the upper portion of the body, and then along the upper portion of the body and through the front end of the upper portion of the body to terminate in a bell, said body further having interconnected compensator passages which communicate with the part of the main passage that extends along the lower portion of the body, the said main air passage and interconnected compensator passages lying in substantially the same plane, and manually controlled valves for the compensator passages.

4. A musical wind instrument composed of an integral one piece body formed with a main airpassage which extends at one end through one end of the body at the top thereof to receive a mouthpiece, then across said end of the body, then along the bottom of the body, then across the other end of the body, then across the body at points intermediate the top and bottom thereof and finally along the top of the body and through the opposite end thereof forming a bell, said intermediate portion of the body being formed with valve controlled compensator ducts located between the parts of the main passage that are in the intermediate portion and bottom of the body and between the parts of the main passage in the ends of the body so as to be substantially surrounded by the said main passage, the ducts communicating with the part of the main passage in the bottom of the body, and all of the said ducts and said main passage being in substantially the same plane.

5. A wind instrument in accordance with claim 4, wherein the body has a substantially central portion which extends substantially transversely of the top and bottom portions and which is connected to said portions and spaced from the ends to provide finger-receiving openings.

6. A musical wind instrument composed of an integral one piece body formed with a main air passage and which extends at one end through one end of the body at the top thereof to receive a mouthpiece, then across said end of the body, then along the bottom of the body, then across the other end of the body, then across the body at points intermediate the top and bottom there of and finally along the top of the body and through the opposite end thereof forming a bell, said intermediate portion of the body being formed with valve controlled compensator .ducts located between the parts of the main passage that are in the intermediate portion and bottom of the body and between the parts of the main passage in the ends of the body so as to be substantially surrounded by the said main passage, the ducts communicating with the part of the main passage in the bottom of the body, the said part of the main passage communicating with the aforesaid ducts being substantially straight, and all of the said ducts and said main passage being in substantially the same plane.

7. A musical wind instrument including an integral body having an upper portion provided with a pair of spaced alined air passages, a mouth piece and a bell connected to the outer ends of the respective passages, a lower portion having a central part and ends spaced from the central part and formed to provide finger-receiving openings, said central part and ends of the lower portion being each integrally connected to the upper portion and formed with circuitous air passages which extend from one of the air passages of the upper portion into the other air passage of the upper portion, all of said passages being disposed in substantially the same plane, said central part being formed with ducts that extend transversely of the axis of the upper portionand which communicate at their ends with adjacent parts of the circuitous passage, and manually operable valves for the ducts.

JOSEPHUS THOMPSON. 

